Page 105 of Grumpy Darling

He led me into the snow dome and pulled back a seat so I could take my place at the table. Our practice date had only just started, but I was beginning to think a proper date with another guy could never compare. Gray had bought me the perfect dress, given me my favorite candy, and taken me for my favorite food in what might be the prettiest, most romantic location in town.

I stared up at the lights glittering above us like we were sitting in the middle of a snow globe, surrounded by stars.

“Is this the kind of thing you do for other girls when you take them on dates?” I asked, once he was sitting down across from me.

“What other girls?”

I couldn’t decide if he was giving me a line or being serious. “I know you’ve been on dates before.”

“I think good date etiquette is to avoid talking about past relationships,” Gray replied.

“Guess it’s lucky this isn’t a real date then.” I was too curious to let it go. “Seriously, I can’t be the first to go through the Grayson Darling date experience. There must have been other girls.” I wondered how well I was hiding my jealousy. I hated the thought of Gray going to so much effort for someone else.

“Like I said before, what other girls?” he murmured.

“Well, what about... Uh, didn’t you...” The truth was, I couldn’t say who else he’d dated. I didn’t know. Girls at school always talked about how intimidating Grayson was, but they’d do anything to go out with him all the same. He was the strong, silent type, and was generally considered one of the hottest guys in school. But when I thought about it, not once could I remember a girl saying they’d gone on a date with him.

“I’m sure there’ve been others,” I said. “You just don’t want to bore me with the details.”

“I play hockey, and I hang out with you. I promise you, there are no other girls.”

His words rattled me, and my mouth went dry, but I wasn’t giving up that easy.

“Okay, so you don’t date.” That wasn’t so unusual. Plenty of guys didn’t date. “But there must have been girls you’ve found yourself alone with in dark corners at parties, right?”

Gray shuffled uneasily in his seat, but he didn’t get a chance to answer because the server returned to take our order. She couldn’t have reappeared at a worse moment. This wasn’t the first time Gray had managed to avoid a similar question. I didn’t just want to know his answer. I needed it.

Gray gave the girl our usual order. Neither of us had even picked up the menu. I always got the same pepperoni pizza when I visited Nino’s. It was just too good. Gray went with his signature barbeque chicken pizza with extra chicken.

As soon as the server left, Grayson started talking before I could continue questioning him about girls.

“I feel like we should start with a practice conversation.”

“A practice conversation?” I laughed. “How is that different from a real one?”

“I ask you all the things a guy would ask on a date.”

“That sounds incredibly boring. We already know everything about each other.”

“You don’t know everything about me,” Gray replied.

“Didn’t I prove I did during the interview the other day?”

“That’s not how I remember it. There were a couple of things that took you by surprise, weren’t there?” He smirked slightly, and my skin sparked at the memory. “I’m sure there’s things that would surprise me about you too.”

“I doubt it, but let’s put it to the test.”

“Fire away.”

“Okay . . . where was I born?”

“Minneapolis.” He shook his head at me, as though he were disappointed. “If you’re going to test me, you could at least make it a challenge...”

I thought I had been. I’d lived there before moving to Ransom, but I was so young I never really talked about it. I totally thought that would have slipped him up. “Fine. What’s my favorite color?”

“The soft shade of pink at sunrise.”

“My favorite holiday?”

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